Halfling
by strwbrrysncrm
Summary: A girl is sent from the Volturi to live with the Cullens. She's a new breed... Mild panic ensues. Set after Eclipse, all canon pairings.
1. Arrival

**AN: This idea has been gnawing on me for a month now. It feels SO GOOD to get it out. It's been five years since I've written any thing, so I hope this isn't too bad. It took me four or five versions to get it right! There was actually another one that I liked better, but the plot bunnies picked this one, and I am simply their slave. Hopefully you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and Bea.**

**Halfling**

* * *

Nauseated. Lightheaded. Stomach clenched. I studied the wood grain of the door as I took another deep breath. Just ring the dang bell. I felt so melodramatic, standing here wallowing in my nervousness. Just go. GO! Why was my hand having such trouble with this command? It's just a doorbell. They're just vampires. Pretty good ones, compared to the ones I've spent my time with.

I sighed. I missed him. My pillar of strength. He was halfway across the world now. I closed my eyes, imagining his presence at my back. If I never rang the doorbell, I could never go in. If I couldn't go in, I could never get settled and call him. I sighed again and pushed the chime, relieved to get started on the chain of actions that would follow, whatever they were.

A young woman (Relatively, of course; There was no way to know how "young" she was for certain) answered the door. She had light brown hair and a confused look on her face.

"Yes? Can I help you somehow?" she asked. She sounded kind, but I could tell she was intentionally trying to give me a "go away" type of vibe. So she hadn't picked up on it yet.

I took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah, actually." I paused, unsure how to continue. "Um, could I, uh, could I maybe come in?" Ooh. I winced. Probably too forward. Tact is important. Just because you're forcing yourself onto these people doesn't mean you shouldn't be polite.

The woman looked taken aback. "I'm sorry," she said, eyebrows furrowing elegantly. "If you're lost I can give you directions back to the highway-"

"No, no," I cut her off. "That's not it. I mean… I was sent here. I have a letter." Word jumble. I took a moment and composed my thoughts. "You're one of the Cullens, aren't you?"

Her eyebrows flew up and she took a closer look at me. I stared silently and mildly sullenly into space as she took me in, noticing the things I knew she would. The color of my eyes. My pale, shimmery skin. The things that she would notice that humans never would. I saw the confusion register in her eyes.

She stepped back and held the door open for me, a silent invitation.

I followed her to the left where she showed me to a couch. "I'll, uh, just be a minute. Going to get Carlisle. Please, make yourself comfortable." Her confusion was still evident.

I nodded my thanks and slung my heavy knapsack to the floor. Rubbing my shoulders where the straps cut into them, I debated whether I was clean enough to sit on the white couch, and whether I was tired enough to care.

The woman hadn't left yet. She was still staring at me. I looked at her and she turned to leave, walking a few steps before turning back to me.

"Oh, by the by, I'm Esme."

I gave a hesitant little smile and nodded. She turned and went up the stairs.

My feet won the battle. I brushed my bottom off and sat down almost at the edge of the seat. I told myself that it was because I didn't want to dirty the backrest, but really I was too tense to relax at all. I clasped and unclasped my hands, too nervous to do anything but stare at my knees. A strike of inspiration and I dug into my knapsack, reaching to the bottom of the thick manila folder for the wrinkled envelope. Best to be prepared. I didn't trust myself to really explain anything. I set the envelope in my lap and tried to straighten out the edges.

Footsteps on the stairs. I looked up and saw Esme returning, a handsome blonde man in tow. I stood hastily as they came into the room, nearly dropping my letter. They stopped and stood opposite me. I knew they could hear my heart pounding. I wondered if they could smell my nausea, too. The man started to speak.

"Hello. I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen." He glanced at Esme. I knew he had questions for me. Probably he was just trying to word them so as to avoid awkward, blunt phrasing. Impossible. I saved him the trouble.

"Hi. I'm Beatrice. I'm here 'cause… Well, here." I handed him the letter. "It's all in there." Not strictly true.

He took the letter and sat down on the loveseat behind him to read it. I sat down again, too. I knew reading it wouldn't take long, but the questions probably would.

I was right. As soon as he had seen the watermark on the stationary, Dr. Cullen hadn't needed to pretend to read at a human pace. Seconds later, he had read through the whole letter. Probably twice. The thing was absurdly short, almost to the point of being rude. I knew, and I knew that he probably knew, too, that the writer was actually just rather absentminded and somewhat pretentious.

He looked up at me. "So…"

"Hi."

"The Volturi sent you."


	2. Explainations

**AN: Another shortie, but it seemed like the natural place to end the chapter. You get to learn a little more about Bea and more of the Cullens show up! YAY!**

**Disclaimer: Excepting Beatrice and the plot, everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer.**

**Explainations**

If ever my cheeks reddened, now would be the time. I nodded.

"Yup."

"And they want you to live here."

I could feel the blood rushing to my chest- the only part of me that did flush.

"Basically."

"Until…" Carlisle trailed off.

"Until."

Carlisle looked at Esme and then back at me. "I have so many questions; I don't even know where to begin."

I felt horrible. These poor people! They didn't know me, and then suddenly out of the blue, here I come, traipsing into their lives expecting them to shelter me, care for me, and accommodate my… unique needs. They didn't even have the option of saying no. I suddenly felt the urge to cry. I clenched my teeth until the feeling passed; time enough for that later.

"I'm so sorry. I know this is sudden, and I know you don't have a choice," I started blathering. "I didn't have one either, actually. There were some pretty weird circumstances surrounding me back in Italy… actually, I'm kind of a weird circumstance myself."

"Yeah, let's talk about that." Carlisle cut in. "You're not a vampire."

"No."

"And you lived with the Volturi."

Not altogether unheard of. "You've got it," I mumbled.

"And am I correct in saying that you are not human either?"

Barely audible, I whispered, "No, I'm not human, either."

"Uh huh. So… what are you?"

There it was. The unavoidable, blunt question I'd been dreading ever since I learned of my stateside exile. I'd been hoping that Aro would include it in the letter, but I think he was trying to punish me further by making me explain it myself. However, I was at a loss for words.

"I'm a… well, I'm… umm, I guess you would say I'm a halfling." I stuttered, resorting to Aro's mildly affectionate nickname for me in a desperate attempt to end the sentence.

"A halfling." Carlisle repeated even-toned.

"Yeah… I'm… um, well, basically I'm what happens when someone gets bit and stops changing halfway through." The words left my mouth in a rush.

"And how does this happen?"

Carlisle didn't sound incredulous or accusing or anything like that. Just like he was trying to understand it all in an entirely nonjudgmental way, but for some reason it was bringing up my urge to cry all over again.

"Um, well, there's this vampire there, and he has this ability… I don't really know how to describe it… I don't know much about it at all… All I know is that he did it." I fished out the manila envelope from my knapsack and handed it over to Carlisle. "I think there may be more information in there. If there isn't, you'll have to contact them yourself, because I really don't know. I don't think I was allowed to."

While I spoke, Carlisle was rifling through the papers. "No, I think I found something here. I'll look at it later."

I'm certain he would have said more, but at that point a back door flew open.

"Carlisle! Esme! We're home! Damn, it's hot out there. Nearly eighty degrees. Jesus, what's going on in here? The feelings of shame radiating off this place are enough to make me wanna- oh!"

I could sense them looking at me as I tried desperately to bore holes in the carpet with my eyes alone. I didn't know how many there were now that more had walked into the room. This whole situation was too ridiculously uncomfortable.

"Jasper, Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, this is Beatrice. She's our guest and she's going to be staying with us for a while." I heard Esme speak for the first time since Carlisle came in. I heard her move off the arm of the loveseat where she had been perched and come sit by me, placing a hand on my shoulder. I was sure whichever one it was who could feel my shame was just about ready to cut himself from it now.

"Hi." I said in a small voice.

Silence. I waited a moment before looking up in curiosity. There was a tall blonde who met my eyes for less than a second before making a little noise of disinterest and floating up the stairs, pulling the really big one with curly dark hair with her. He shrugged at me before following.

I caught the eye of the little dark one, who had her head cocked and was regarding me intensely. I gave a shy smile, which she returned exuberantly. The last one, a blonde male, was staring at me, eyebrows furrowed. I felt my chest flush again. The little one touched his hand and he looked away, startled, but she was already dancing her way up the stairs. He followed.

Carlisle, too, rose to leave, taking my manila envelope with him. He looked lost in thought as he ran a hand through his thick, golden hair.

Esme turned and smiled at me. "Here, let me show you to your room," she said, reaching for my knapsack.

"Oh, no, I've got it," I replied quickly, standing and snatching up the heavy bag.

"Are you sure? You look tired." Esme smiled kindly, rising.

"It's fine. Really. I've carried it a while. I can carry it a little farther." I smiled and swung the bag onto my shoulders. As the weight settled, so did my nerves, to an extent. It was kind of a security blanket thing, the only tie to my life in Italy that I was forced to leave.


	3. Speculations

**A/N: Another chappie... after only two days again! Phew! I don't know if I can keep this up! Though, at the same time, I love it. It's fun knowing you guys enjoy my work! I'm getting big headed, I think :-D. **

**To my reviewers: Thank you so much! You make me squeal in study hall. To the reviewer who mentioned Carlisle's use of "yeah" (I'm sorry, but I'm too lazy to look up your name tonight ;-)), I thought about that, too, actually, but then I figured that since he's in such a public position, being a doctor and all, he had to keep up with the popular vernacular of the day. He couldn't use antiquated language around his patients, though he could use language that he was more comfortable with around his family. Since he was talking to Beatrice, and she's a stranger, and since he was kinda in "doctor mode," he slipped into a more modern style of speaking, even though he was in his own home. :-D I hope that explains. Thank you for noticing that! People like you keep me diligent.**

**On that note, I'm currently conducting my very own beta search! While I'm actively using the beta search function, if any of my readers would like to consider being my beta, I would really appreciate it. I like to have a close friendship with my beta. Generally, I don't have much trouble with grammar or spelling, but I like general feedback, help with characterization and awkward phrasing. If you'd be interested, please let me know! There are a few chapters coming up that I'd really like to have beta read before I post them.**

**Also, I'd love to beta for someone who needs it!**

**Well, geez, my A/N is nearly longer than my (again, rather short) chapter! Thank you if you've read this far! This chapters from Carlisle's point of view, a fun one to write. He thinks a lot!**

**Speculation**

Name: Beatrice McNara

Weight: 145 lbs

Height: 5'4"

Blood type: B+

Place of birth: Drum, County Roscommon, Ireland

Date of birth: December 25, 1974

Date of change: May 26, 1975

I scanned the documents, gleaning the important information. It turned out that the manila envelope was crammed full of medical records… the first were fairly basic, simple statistics. Towards the middle, the papers got into family history… nothing terribly unusual there. Past that, though, the paper started detailing disturbing things… experimentation, if you would. Things the Volturi had done to Beatrice to see what the capabilities of a "halfling" were. They had tested each one of her bodily systems to the extreme… but most of the time taking some amount of preventative measures to avoid her death. Things like giving her lacerations all over her body (to test her healing time and the effects of blood loss), forcing her to drink alcohol heavily over a long period of time (to see the effects on her liver), breaking her bones (to test their strength), and (and I had to do a double take on this one) inseminating her to test her childbearing ability. From the look of it, that last one had been repeated several times, with bad results. They all revealed almost the same thing: her reaction was better than a human's, but worse than a vampire's.

The ones I found most horrific were the ones that tested her vampiric traits. They'd forced her to drink human blood- her reaction had been revulsion and vomiting- and suffer multiple bites, which had only caused her intense pain, and not turned her all the way into a vampire.

I laid the papers on the desk and leaned back into my chair, heavy with thought. Some things didn't make sense to me. Why was she here? I could understand the Volturi's reasoning. I was a doctor and could keep an eye on her medically, which was probably their only interest in her. Plus, my family was not nomadic, which meant they could always find her if they needed her, and we would never attack her and try to drink her blood, which, according to the papers, would taste like little more than water to us (I didn't want to think about the experiments they conducted in order to learn that bit of information), but still the danger existed of some overzealous and over thirsty vampire draining her, just because.

But then, why had they sent her away? I looked at the dates on the medical records… the experiments had continued steadily up until about a year, maybe a year and a half ago. Why did they stop? Did the Volturi grow bored, or did they get all of the information they wanted? If they had'nt needed her anymore, why not just keep her around, or kill her? I knew they had no qualms about killing. But, of course, if they killed her, they couldn't see how she developed as the years went on. Clearly, she was aging, since her change date put her at only six months old. December 1974… that would make her about thirty-three years old, even though she looked like she was barely out of puberty. I guessed she probably aged one year for every two calendar years… a simple equation. It made sense that they'd want her alive in order to keep an eye on her development.

Why else then would they want her halfway across the world? It couldn't have been because she was a nuisance. Vampires have nearly infinite amounts of patience, and if she had begun to try theirs, she would have been quickly killed, valuable or not. No, the simple fact that she was alive marked her as at least tolerable. Besides, how annoying could she be, strapped to a hospital bed in recovery?

Perhaps she had wanted to go? I could see why any sane person would have wanted to get away from that situation… but then, she grew up there. She probably didn't have much to compare it to as good or bad… but all the same. I was sure she could have figured out that there were other options… And she'd seemed so painfully shy, almost timid when I met her. Not behavior indicative of someone in celebration of getting out of a bad situation and coming into their new home. And besides, if she had requested to leave Volterra, would the Volturi have said yes? Probably not. They probably looked on her as little more than a hobby.

Maybe she had been sent as a spy to check up on Bella? I knew Edward and Bella wanted to wait until they were married (I swelled a little with pride and joy at the thought of Edward getting married), and that was a little while off yet, but the Volturi had their own agenda. I thought about it a moment and disagreed with myself. If they had been trying to find out about Bella, they would have sent someone able to turn her into a vampire if so needed, which Beatrice's records clearly stated she was not able to do. The last time we'd seen Jane, in June, would have been enough reconnaissance for them anyway.

I sighed and leaned forward again, resting my chin in my hand. For all my years of knowing them, the Volturi where still a mystery to me sometimes.


	4. Settling In

**A/N: I feel a little guilty about posting this... I'm not quite as far ahead as I'd like to be, chapter wise, but I finished up a really long one today :-D! Of course, a really long one for me is a pretty normal length one for most other people. I appreciate all of your views and reviews! You make me squeal in the middle of playing video games with my boyfriend.**

**Back to Beatrice's point of view. I promised Bella and Edward are coming up in a few chapters! This chapter was just fun.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing other than Beatrice and the plot. The rest is Stephenie Meyer's brainchild.**

**Settling In**

I followed Esme up the stairs, where she paused a moment, thinking. She started down the hallway, but after a few steps paused again, seemed to think better, and turned and led me up another flight of stairs. I giggled internally and smiled a little. Esme had just reminded me of myself, and it made me relax some.

We reached the landing, and there was no pause this time. Esme pivoted abruptly towards the first door on the left. She turned the knob and held it open for me with a smile.

"Your room," she said simply.

I walked in and started absorbing everything. Like the rest of the house, it was white, which was a little nerve-wracking as I was well known for being rather messy. However, it did give the room an airy feel, which I liked intensely. The furniture was oversized and consisted of an armoire, a chest of drawers, a large bookshelf, and a side table, all made of cherry wood, next to an overstuffed icy blue couch. There was a window, hung with matching blue curtains, facing out to the front with a view of the branches of the cedar trees, next to a door that I assumed led to a closet or bathroom or both.

I dropped my bag on the floor and turned slowly to face Esme, grinning the biggest I had been able to since I left Italy five days ago.

"It's perfect! I love it. Thank you so much!"

Esme grinned, too. "I'm so glad you like it."

I walked over to the couch and settled down onto it, getting used to the feeling in my new space. Esme followed and sat down next to me.

"Usually, we use it as a guest room in case someone drops in. It's not very often, but it does happen. Nomads get curious or lonely or both… or our friends from the north visit us. I suppose they don't need a bedroom in the usual sense, but I figure they need somewhere to put their things, if they have any, and it's always nice to have someplace private to go to." I nodded, sympathizing.

"Anyway, it's so rare that anyone drops in, and even rarer that they should actually use the room, I figure it's the perfect place to put you. Besides, we have other rooms if they need them."

"Thank you, again. I really appreciate this," I said sincerely. Esme smiled and the conversation lulled.

"Oh!" The woman cried suddenly.

"Hum?"

"I forgot to tell you. I don't know if you sleep or not, but the couch pulls out into a bed if you do."

I giggled a little. "I do, but not that much."

"Well, here, let me help you pull it out."

We hopped up and pulled the cushions off the couch, piling them to one side. I was pretty sure I liked Esme. She was very friendly and welcoming and she seemed like a "Do-it-yourself" kind of woman, which I admired. Of course, I couldn't be sure she wasn't doing it all for my benefit. I wasn't exactly a choice.

I moved to help her pull out the mattress part, but she chuckled, a rich sound. "It's all right. I've more than got it," she said, amused.

She easily pulled out the queen-sized mattress and paused again.

"No sheets." She said simply. "I'd never expected to actually have to use the bed. I just liked the couch." She frowned.

"It's okay," I assured her, sitting down. "I have a blanket. I'll go shopping for sheets tomorrow, if that's okay."

"It's fine, but are you sure? I can go if you want."

I wasn't exactly sure if she was trying to be kind or was simply unwilling to relinquish control of the room design.

"No, no. I'd like to get acquainted with the town."

"Well, all right then. Do you need any help getting unpacked?" She asked, looking dubiously at my small knapsack of clothing. Little did she know.

"I'm good, thanks. There's a phone call I'd like to make anyways."

Esme nodded. "I'll be downstairs if you need anything. Come down when you're ready and I'll introduce you to everyone properly. I'm sorry they were so rude earlier. You surprised us."

Flush went my chest.

"Sorry," I muttered quietly.

I was surprised when she didn't answer, and even more surprised when I looked up to find her gone.

Vampires. So stinking fast, and so bad at goodbyes.

On that train of thought, I reached for my cell phone.

**A/N: Did everyone see the teaser trailer already? It got me excited!**


	5. Reservations

**A/N: Ah, my second correction on this chapter... How embarrassing! I really do need a proper beta...**

**In any case, this is from Esme's POV. She was fun to write, since this showed a side of her personality that hasn't been explored much yet: her protective temper!**

I stormed down the stairs, flying into Carlisle's study and through the door into my own, agitation boiling my skin. I resisted the urge to slam the door and jumped a little when I turned and realized I was not alone.

"Jasper! What are you doing here?" He had a smug grin on his face.

"You did an impressive job," he said. I assumed he was referring to my display with Beatrice and not my plans for a water garden that he was looking at, attempting to hide his curiosity with nonchalance.

"What can I say? I don't like the idea of having one of _**them**_ in the house," I snapped. My dislike of the Volturi and anyone associated with them had only intensified since Edward and Bella's run-in with them a few months ago.

Comforting arms wrapped around my waist, and a head rested itself on my shoulder. I looked over to see Carlisle smiling sweetly up at me. Although he was nearly 400 years old, he still retained that perfect boyishness that I had always loved. Right now, he was using every ounce of it, from his impish smile, to his loving eyes, to the perfect blonde lock of hair flopping over his forehead, to melt my anger. It was working, too. How frustrating.

"Carlisle," I said, struggling out of his embrace. "Can't you do something?"

"No," He said firmly. "She's not going back, and I think that this is the best place for her to be, given the circumstances."

I was completely taken aback. I was certain Carlisle would agree with me. Even if he didn't share my aversion to the Volturi, I had been certain that he'd realize how impossible it would be to have one of their followers in our home.

"But Bella…" I said quietly, my earlier anger placated in a way on Carlisle could do.

"I don't think that'll be an issue," Carlisle said, inviting no rebuttal.

"**I'm** not worried," Jasper interjected. "She doesn't look like she'd put up much of a fight." He smiled menacingly, showing his teeth. I wondered if I would have to remind him of the "no blood or corpses in the house, please" rule.

"She wouldn't, I'm sure of it," Carlisle said confidently.

"How so?" I asked.

He opened his mouth to answer, paused, and asked instead, "When are Bella and Edward coming home?"

"They said they'd be back from Seattle by nine," I replied, glancing at the clock. It was six now.

"Perfect. The girl looked exhausted; she'll probably drop off within a few hours. I wanted to speak with everyone together." He glanced towards his watch. "There are a few patients at the hospital I was planning to go check on, so I'm going to go do that. Call me the minute Edward and Bella get home."

I nodded, still confused by the situation and upset that Carlisle was leaving us with a stranger in the house. I had confidence in my family's ability to take care of ourselves, but Carlisle's knowledge of the Volturi seemed like more than an asset, and I wanted him around for my own sake. This situation was too uncomfortable for me to not have Carlisle nearby. My husband, of course, sensed this immediately.

Placing his hands on my shoulders, he asked, "You don't want me to go, do you?"

I looked up at him, unwilling to answer honestly. If his patients needed him… But once again, he knew my mind without me having to speak it. He leaned in and kissed my cheek.

"Then I won't go."

"But your patients…" My protest was ruined by the large grin on my face. Carlisle drew me into an embrace, hugging me tight. I wrapped my arms around his chest in response.

"They'll survive a while longer." He paused. "I think."

I looked up at him, horror stricken.

"Kidding! I was kidding." He laughed and kissed my hair. Still sitting at my desk, I saw Jasper roll his eyes and get up to leave.

"I'm going to go watch something violent on TV," he declared. "You guys are too much for me."

Knowing that, in actuality, he was probably going to try and find Alice, I chuckled. Typical Jasper. Typical son.

"Now," Carlisle's voice soothed my worried even further. I trusted him, completely. As far as I knew, he never made a bad decision. "Show me that water garden you're planning on tearing up our backyard for."


	6. Unloading

**A/N: Back to Bea's point of view! It's fun switching POVs like this. Keeps it interesting, y'know? In any case, this is my longest chappie yet, but mostly 'cause there's lots of dialogue. I thought about splitting it, but I realized the next chapter would be too short if I did. So anyway! Here you go!**

"Buonjourno."

"Adam!" I squealed in utter joy.

"Bea! How are you? I was getting worried."

"Sorry I couldn't call you sooner. After I left the airport, I never stopped anywhere that had service."

"I wish you hadn't had to walk all that way. It's not safe…"

"I was fine. Really. It was kinda nice, actually. It gave me a chance to think… and to get acclimated. The weather's nice, real cool and rainy, but I think I miss the sun."

"Mmm. Sounds nice."

"It is, I think."

We fell into a comfortable silence for a moment, and I realized again how easy it was to be with Adam.

"I miss you!" I blurted out.

"I miss you, too, love," Adam responded earnestly.

"Have you been busy lately?"

"Mm. But I don't mind. It helps occupy my mind…"

He trailed off and I felt a rush of sadness. He was victimized by my exile as much as I was.

"Maybe, eventually we can visit each other," I said hopefully. "You know, in a few months or so."

"Maybe," Adam sounded simultaneously doubtful and reassuring. We were silent again.

"So, how're the Cullens?"

"Um, I don't really know. Esme- that's the momish one- seems sweet. Carlisle seems… mature," I said, lacking a better word. "I don't really know about the rest."

"Oh. Okay. So you haven't met the others yet."

"No, not really. Well, sorta, I guess. When I was talking to Esme and Carlisle when I first got here, some of them came in. They kinda blew me off though."

"Do you know which ones they were?"

"Um, I think Esme said it was Jasper, Alice, Emmett and Rosalie."

"How many are there?"

"Uh, I think just those plus one official one and one unofficial one, from what I've heard. Another male named Edward and his human girlfriend Bella. I guess they were out, but I don't really know. My welcome's been less than thorough."

"So there's a total of four other males in that house?"

He'd only been listening to half of what I said.

"Uh, yeah, I guess that's how it adds up…"

"Fours males that aren't me."

"Well, no…"

"I'm not sure how I feel about that," he said, making perfectly clear he was not happy.

I laughed. "Adam, you're silly. They all have mates. Every single one. Including me," I hinted.

"I know, but still…"

"But still nothing. You're silly and sweet and you have nothing to worry about," I paused. "What **are** you worried about?"

"I don't know," Adam replied exasperatedly. "I just don't like this situation… I don't know. Can we talk about something else, please?" he pleaded.

"Okay. What do you want to talk about?"

"Hmm… I don't know."

"Adam! You can't just insist on a change of subject and not have one in mind!" I protested.

"Yes, I can," he insisted.

"Says who?"

"Says me." He sounded smug.

"You? Why are you so important?" I teased.

"I'm not, but I can out run you, so it doesn't matter."

"Hey! That doesn't have anything to do with anything!"

"Yes, it does."

"No, it doesn't."

"Yeah-huh."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yeah-huh."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yeah-huh."

I paused. "Good God, we're disgusting."

"Cop out!" Adam cried. I could easily picture him running around in triumph.

"It was not a cop out! I was simply stating a fact!"

"Cop out! Cop out!"

"I- Well, you- I mean- UGH!" Nobody was able to fluster me as easily as Adam. Well, okay, maybe that was a lie, but it made me feel better. He just laughed. "I still miss you…"

"I miss you, too, love, but saying it isn't going to make it any easier."

"I know, I just felt like wallowing for a minute or two…"

"All right, I'll let you have your minute." He paused. "You done now?"

"Yup!"

"Well, good… Oh, hey, um, I gotta go, okay? I'm, uh, needed…" he trailed off and I was grateful for it. I didn't want to have to know what they were making him do these days.

"Oh. Okay." I said, disappointed. "I guess I'll call you tomorrow…"

"Tomorrow? Why tomorrow? Why not later?"

"Well, I still have to get unpacked and meet everyone and all that stuff and I'm **really** tired…"

"Oh… well, I guess that's okay then… I'm gonna miss you 'til then!"

I smiled. "You're so cute. I'm gonna miss you, too."

"Okay… I should let you go, then…"

"Yeah, probably…

We paused.

"I don't wanna."

"I don't want you to! But, you have to go."

"Yeah, I know…" He trailed off for a moment. "But, hey, I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Okay. Talk to you then."

"Talk to you then."

"I love you." He said fervently. There was something in his voice that left no room for doubt.

"I love you, too," I replied, hoping I'd managed to convey the same amount of sincerity.

"See you."

I chuckled hollowly. "Not really."

"No, not really… But anyways! I love you, bye!"

"I love you, too, bye-bye!"

"Bye."

"Bye."

Setting my phone on the end table, I sighed and smiled sadly. Even halfway around the world, Adam still made me happy. I just wondered how long it would last. Not being near each other, it would be easy for one of us to get… distracted. He'd promised me he'd always be faithful, and I'd promised him the same, but there was no way to know the future… The tears from earlier threatened again, and I pushed the thoughts away, focusing instead on unpacking.

May as well get right to the point. I hopped up, threw my knapsack on the bed, unzipped it, and proceeded to upturn it and dump everything out onto the mattress. I grinned smugly. My packing skills were unparalleled. The amount that had spilled out could easily have filled the average suitcase. Mostly it was just toiletries, a few shirts and a spare pair of jeans, and a few other necessities, like a blanket and umbrella. I'd included a few frivolous items as well: a picture of myself and Adam, an Ipod, a few books, and a teddy bear by name of Benedick. I'd always had a soft spot for Shakespeare.

I grabbed my small toiletries bag and headed through the door by the window, which I had presumed correctly to be a bathroom. It was done similarly to the bedroom, with cool, white tile and blue shower curtains. The furnishings were fairly standard: a counter with a sink and a mirror, a toilet, and a tub/shower combo. One of the walls was painted a blue that matched the shower curtains, and on the wall next to me was a long wooden shelf with a little potted lucky bamboo. By the shower was a door; I discovered that it led to a small walk-in closet.

It didn't take me long to dump my few toiletries into a drawer and stuff my dirty clothes into the hamper in the closet. I'd have to do laundry soon… I was out of shirts. In fact, I'd have to wear a dirty one into town tomorrow. I put my picture on the end table and stuck my Ipod and cell phone in to charge by the window. I laid my blanket over the mattress and threw one of the fluffier couch pillows up at the head with Benedick. I tossed my knapsack in the closet and put my three books on the shelf, where they looked lonely.

Sitting down on the bed, I looked at the total effect and smiled. It was a little weird seeing my familiar things in this strange room, but I would get used to it. The day was nice outside, so I got up and threw open the window and watched the curtains shift in the breeze. Lounging back on my bed, I grabbed Benedick and rested my head against the propped up pillow. This room really was perfect… It couldn't be more unlike my room back home, with its big canopy bed, red and gold comforter, ornately carved furniture, and heavy drapes… I yawned and thought again of my room, trying to remember every detail… The way the corners of my dresser were perfectly carved into stacks of wheat… the bumps and grooves of the stone walls… the pattern of my bedspread…

**A/N: Back to Bea's point of view! It's fun switching POVs like this. Keeps it interesting, y'know? In any case, this is my longest chappie yet, but mostly 'cause there's lots of dialogue. I thought about splitting it, but I realized the next chapter would be too short if I did. So anyway! Here you go!**

**Disclaimer: I only own Bea, Adam, and the plot!**

**Unloading**

**Disclaimer: I only own Bea, Adam, and the plot!**

**Unloading**


	7. Happenings

**A/N: Finally, Edward and Bella make their appearance! Don't worry, their late entrance is in no way indicative of their later involvment in the plot. They feature _heavily_ in the next chapters...**

**Sorry about the wait... I had exams and crap... But hooray! I'm done with high school! College, here I come! Any other USFers out there?**

**Disclaimer: I only own Bea, Adam, and the plot. I am satisfied :-D**

**Happenings**

* * *

It felt appropriate to be in the upright fetal position as I argued ineffectively with Edward. I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, resting my head on top. I sighed dejectedly. Edward took a hand off the steering wheel and rested it on the back of my neck, but I shrugged him off, too frustrated to be calmed by his affection.

"I could still ask Carlisle to do it," I reminded him.

"Bella," Edward sighed, "I'm not being unreasonable, and neither is Renee. Or Charlie, for that matter."

"I absolutely do **not** have any issue with my mother right now. I'm all for putting **that** off." Edward sighed sadly, but I ignored him and continued. "But even if we do wait to get married, that's no reason to put off changing me."

"Yes, it most certainly is," Edward growled, his hands clenched tightly on the steering wheel.

This whole situation was out of hand. One week ago, we'd thought that we'd just tell Charlie and Mom that we were getting married and they might be upset at first, but they'd get over it, and at the end of the summer I'd be wedded, bedded, and immortal.

Charlie's reaction was just as I'd predicted it, though he had insisted that we tell Renee in person. Mom had been happy to have us, so we flew out to Florida the next day and told her that night. To say that she completely flipped out would be a ridiculous understatement.

Edward had spent the night locked in the guest room, with Phil standing guard outside with an honest-to-God shotgun. Not that it would have been very effective.

My evening was spent in Renee's room, screaming and crying at each other at the top of our lungs. It wasn't typical of us to fight so aggressively, but we were hellcats that night. Renee screamed at me how disappointed she was in me, how she'd thought I'd make better decisions than her. She told me how stupid it was of me, how I'd be throwing my life away, how she'd hoped I would never be **that girl…**

I spent the time yelling back at her, miserable in so many ways. It was a good thing that we were shrieking at each other, because it made her too upset to notice how bad my lies were. And I lied a lot that night. The worst part wasn't the lying, though, or the screaming, or that my fiancé (eek) was being held hostage by a minor league baseball player with a firearm. It was that I agreed with most of what Renee was saying. But it didn't matter. I **needed** to be with Edward, for eternity, and if this was the only way…

Eventually we'd come to a compromise at around three in the morning… I would wait to marry Edward. Not long, only until spring, instead of the five years Renee had originally wanted. But I would take the year off school, so I wouldn't have to move away from Forks just to come back before the second semester ended.

I'd thought that this was perfect. I could put off the impending wedding a while, much to my relief, and I could still become a vampire before my birthday. I wouldn't get any older than Edward, and I wouldn't have to take the risk of going to college. He had said the deal was off, after all…

However, more complications arose when I called Charlie with the news. He'd appreciated the fact that we'd decided to wait (he hadn't been happy about our timeframe, either, but I think he was too pleased that we weren't running off to mention it), but he was furious that I was putting off school, no matter my reasons… I didn't want to run up Renee's long distance bill, so Charlie and I had cut our conversation short. I wasn't looking forward to continuing it.

Edward, of course, had been thrilled with both plans. He said he didn't mind putting off the wedding even longer if it meant I could get in some schooling.

That had confused me at first. He knew better than anyone how absolutely impossible it'd be for me to go to college… until I realized that he fully intended to stick to our original sequence of events. Marriage, then immortality, not the other way around, like I'd thought…

Now he and I were barely speaking, Charlie was waiting for me at home, furious, and Renee was mad at me, too, mainly because she thought I was mad at her, which I wasn't, but I couldn't tell her that…

I wondered it fate was trying to take a roundabout way of killing me, by getting me to do it myself.

I was about to point out the fact that surely one of us would combust with sexual tension before Christmas if we waited too long, but if I was a vampire **before** Christmas, there'd be no need to put it off when Edward's phone rang.

He had it out of his pocket and up to his ear before I could even recognize the latest indie rock discovery that he'd set as his ringtone.

"What is it, Carlisle? I'm not in much of a mood… No, Florida did **not** go well, at all… I'll explain more later, we're nearly home… about twenty minutes, why?" Carlisle said something too quickly for my ears to pick up, and suddenly Edward was gunning the gas even faster, racing past 120… 130 mph… "Why?" He demanded, fury making his voice animalistic, predatory. I involuntarily pressed myself against the door of the Volvo, fear and panic clenching my stomach. "We'll be in the garage in ten minutes." Edward snapped his phone shut and trained his eyes on the road, his mouth a hard line.

"Wha- What's going on?" I stuttered, my voice cracking. I'd never seen Edward so openly incensed. Usually he attempted to save me from at least part of his anger… Horrific possibilities presented themselves in my mind, each picture more worrying than the last… Someone discovering the Cullens… Jasper slipping up, breaking the treaty and now they'd have to move away… the werewolves declaring war… Oh, God, what if something happened to **Charlie… **I'd been so angry when I'd spoken to him last…

Edward glanced at me. "Carlisle's called a family meeting," he said simply.

Family meeting. Not Charlie, then. I felt relief relax my shoulders for only a moment before the other options returned to me.

"Why?" I demanded quietly, determined to quell my rising feelings of hysteria.

"Someone's been sent to live with us. I don't know much else."

I paused, confused. That was far from what I'd expected. Not frightening at all. Why was Edward so aggravated? Unless there was something he wasn't telling me.

"Someone's… been sent," I repeated, and suddenly the repercussions hit me like we'd run into a tree. I couldn't breathe.

"Yes," Edward hesitated, deliberating. "From the Volturi."

The Volturi. The terror from our last meetings still hadn't faded… why was one here? I could only think of two reasons: to change me… or to kill me.

"Oh, God," I tried to cry out like an expletive, but instead it came out all croaky and barely audible, symptoms of my horror.

And I'd thought my day couldn't get any worse.

Famous last words.


	8. Answers

**A/N: Hello, all! Sorry it's been so long. What with the coming of summer, and graduation, and college things to sort through, plus the fact that I didn't have any homework to procrastinate, kinda made me loose my flow. But I've picked it back up again and things should start running smoothly once more!**

**A good chapter, I think. I wrote a little over half of it a few months ago, and I finished and revised it today and yesterday. I hope it doesn't seem disjointed...**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing at all in this chapter, excepting the plot.**

**Esme's POV**

**Answers**

We had already gathered ourselves around the kitchen table when I heard the Volvo come screaming into the driveway. Quickly, I got up and met them at the door, engulfing both Edward and then Bella into tight hugs. My happiness at having them home was tinged with an unexpected feeling of relief. I hadn't realized the small girl sleeping upstairs had bothered me to such an extent.

No one said a word; I just led them through the dark house to where our family, complete once more, was assembled. Edward and Bella settled themselves in the two remaining empty chairs and I took a moment to study their faces as I sat down in my chair on Carlisle's right. Edward's was, unsurprisingly, flat and emotionless, a stark contrast to Bella's blatant fear and worry.

Carlisle spoke first, 'Welcome home, Edward, Bella. How was Florida?"

Bella dropped her forehead to the table with an exasperated sigh. "Not so good." Edward explained. "We've run into complications…" Bella snorted against the wood. "But don't try to change the subject. What's going on?"

The others snapped to attention at this. They had been waiting patiently all afternoon for answers. Even Bella sat up and grabbed for Edward's hand, something that seemed to surprise him. I wondered what Edward meant by "complications."

Carlisle took a minute to look at each one of our faces, gauging our reaction, I supposed. He wasn't pleased to get started on this topic so soon. He'd wanted to put it off…

"As you know," he started, "This afternoon a young girl came to live with us. She was sent from the Volturi, and yet she is not a vampire," Carlisle said simply. Edward and Bella, who had not been there this afternoon, looked surprised at the last part.

"Why?" Rosalie demanded immediately, turning away from the window.

"Why was she sent here, why was she sent away, or why is she not a vampire?" Carlisle asked in return.

"All of them," Rosalie retorted.

"She was sent here because this is the best place for her to be, given the circumstances. The Volturi clearly do not want to eliminate her entirely, but for whatever reason (and on this we cannot be sure), they do not want her to live with them any more. Sending her to us gets her well out of the way, as well as ensuring that no one tries to kill her. They will always be able to find her, since we are not nomadic, and she has certain medical considerations, which this family would be better able to handle than Tanya's. As for the second question, like I said before, we cannot be sure-"

"Oh, I have a pretty good idea," Alice piped up, looking even smaller than usual seated between Jasper and Emmett. "She got into a relationship with someone that the Volturi didn't approve of. Marcus saw it and Aro confirmed it. They're both worth something to them, so instead of killing either of them, she got sent away."

Carlisle paused, amazed. "It fits. How did you figure that out?"

"I eavesdropped on her phone conversation a few hours ago. The rest was logic," Alice said smugly. Jasper smiled and tousled her hair.

"Alice," I said, putting on my "mom" voice, "You shouldn't eavesdrop. It's very inconsiderate." I paused and smiled, "But I have to admit I'm glad you did."

"Why didn't you see this coming?" Edward demanded, still extraordinarily agitated, even though he'd learned the girl posed little, if any, threat. Bella squeezed his hand. "I thought you were watching the Volturi's decisions."

"I am, Edward," Alice replied, emphatic and annoyed. "I'm watching their decisions concerning Bella, not this family in general. You should be relieved I didn't see this coming because that means Bella didn't figure into their decisions at all. It's assurance that's she's here because of what she did, not the two of you." Edward paused to consider, his face becoming a mask once more.

"Well, we can't know anything for sure until we talk to her," I said. "Edward, are you getting anything?"

He shook his head. "Nothing much, just dream images. She's fast asleep."

"Good," I replied. "Let us know if she wakes up."

"I'm still confused," Emmett interrupted. "Why would they send a human? And what are her 'certain medical considerations'?"

Carlisle looked over at him. "I think it's less 'they sent her to us' and more 'they sent her away from them.' But, in any case, she's not human. From what I understand, she's a little bit of both human and vampire. She described it as what happens when someone is bitten and they suddenly stop changing halfway through. I have medical records, but they're lacking where it comes to how they did it. I think they have a vampire with an ability to do that… At least that's what Beatrice said. But that answer's so vague I don't know what to do with it…"

"What **did **the records contain?" Jasper asked.

Carlisle paused. "They contained detailed descriptions of experiments that they performed on her over the past years," he said carefully. "It's not important what kind."

My husband's voice was firm. It was clear to me that whatever the experiments had been, they had affected him somehow. It made me curious, but I knew better than to ask. If Carlisle wanted me to know, he'd tell me.

"The most important question right now is whether she's a danger to Bella," Edward stated, mollified little by Alice. He was holding tightly to his love's hand. Maybe a little too tightly; the tips of her fingers were turning colors. 'Edward,' I called mentally, and he caught my thought. His grip loosed and blood flowed to Bella's fingers.

Suddenly, Edward stiffened and looked upwards at the ceiling.

"She's awake," he said ominously. The tension in the room grew thicker as Edward answered the question on all of our minds. "And she's coming down."


	9. Interrogations

**A/N: Two chapters in one day? I must be spoiling you. :-) I really wanted to post this one, for some reason. It's not my favorite by any measure, but I think Beatrice's voice comes out really clearly. Let me know what you think!!**

**Disclaimer: I own Bea and the plot, nothing else. **

**Bea's POV**

**Interrogations**

My warm and pleasant dreams were rudely interrupted by a gusty wind slamming my bathroom door.

Cursing, I pulled myself reluctantly off my bed and slammed my window against the storm that was brewing. The good weather that had welcomed me could only last so long before my new home became its rainy self again.

Dear me, possessive adjectives could be fun.

My door.

My bed.

My window.

My home.

I hadn't even been here for 24 hours, but I could already feel myself becoming possessive. Territorial, even. I liked it here, very much, and it was bringing out the vampire in me.

I hadn't meant to fall asleep, and for whatever reason my nap hadn't made me feel much better. Maybe because I hadn't even bothered to take off my sneakers. I placed my hands on my lower back and tilted, stretching. Geezus, it was dark. I must have slept for a few hours. I glanced at my phone. Yup, it was a little after 9. Probably I should go down and get properly acquainted with everyone. They had expected me to do it hours ago… I hoped I wasn't interrupting anything.

Well, at least I had the assurance they weren't sleeping.

Or eating lasagna, for that matter.

I yawned my way down the stairs, taking it slow in the darkened house. Granted, my eyesight was better than any human's, but I wasn't familiar with the stairs yet, and I didn't want to make my entrance with a bang and a crash.

I reached the foyer and saw that the bottom floor was as dark as the top two. Maybe they all went out… Oh wait, no, there was a little light coming from the dining room.

I hope at least someone's home, I thought as I walked through the door.

Sixteen mostly vampire eyes stared at me as I skidded to a halt.

And I do mean skidded. My shoe even squeaked.

They all sat around the table, some of them even had their hands folded, one on top of the other, in front of them.

I felt like I was walking into a mafia movie, but with vampires.

Geezus, they made an intimidating picture.

My thoughts abruptly stopped and there was a very long pause in which absolutely nobody moved. At all.

I stared at them, wide eyed. They stared back, curious, accusing.

For a freaking long minute.

Or maybe it just felt that way to me.

Suddenly, Carlisle smiled. I'm sure he meant it to be friendly and welcoming, but it unnerved me further. He gestured to one of the two empty seats at the table, between Esme and the Big One. I moved forward and sat down, very slowly and carefully, purposefully listening to the more animal-like instincts that told me to show I meant no harm. I folded my hands in my lap and gulped, trying to wet my suddenly dry throat.

Again, everyone was silent and still for a moment. I looked around and realized that I knew their names, but I had no idea who went with which. I knew Carlisle and Esme, and the two newcomers must be Bella and Edward, but I had no idea about the other four. I decided to give them names, for my own benefit, for the time being. The guy next to me was easy. He was Big. Next to him, at the head of the table, was the dark girl. Keeping in the size theme, she became Little. Directly across from me was the other girl. Blondie. The last boy became Other, by default.

Sitting across from Blondie, I was suddenly hyperaware of how I must look and I surreptitiously reached up to try and comb out some of my bed head with my fingers, trying to look nonchalant.

Still no one did or said anything. It was becoming unbearable.

This time Esme saved the day. "I think it's time for formal introductions. Beatrice, this is our family. That's Emmett, next to you," I looked up at him and he looked down at me. He was a good bit less intimidating than I'd realized. I could see in his twinkling eye that he was just a good ol' boy at heart, despite his frightening size. I attempted a small smile. "Next to him is Alice," Little looked at me, cocked her head and smiled hugely, just like she had this afternoon. Despite her friendly gesture, she frightened me much more than Big. She reminded me that size did not always equate to power, and she looked wicked intelligent, which was much more dangerous than brute force.

Esme continued the introductions. "Other" became Jasper, who just nodded and didn't give much away in his expressions, and "Blondie" became Rosalie, who looked at me with annoyance and revulsion. That made me feel a sharp stab of rejection and I folded in on myself some, my little confidence further deflated by her obvious abhorrence of me. I hadn't even done anything yet…

Edward and Bella made no gesture, no expression when they were introduced. They just stared.

Esme smiled at me when she finished, probably expecting me to say something. I felt small and at a loss for words, but after a moment she prompted me.

"So, Beatrice, tell us about yourself."

Oh God. One of the most dreaded questions of all time. It was so vague, yet it demanded an answer that encompassed a person's entire life, while sounding genuinely humble and not monopolizing the conversation.

My brilliant answer was "Um…"

Sensing my distress, Carlisle jumped in. "Where were you born?"

I was startled into frankness, "You know where I was born. It was in the papers I gave you."

"Well, yes, but they don't," He said, waving a hand at the rest of the table, most of whom looked like they couldn't care less.

He was trying so hard to be nice, though. I sighed and looked out at them. "A little town in Ireland called Drum. It's kinda in the middle." I answered sullenly.

"How old are you?"

I raised my eyebrows at him. He just gave me an encouraging smile. I turned to look out at the table again. "Thirty-three." This time I thought I saw mild surprise in some of their well-guarded eyes. Taking this an encouragement, I jumped before Carlisle could ask another well-meaning but asinine question. "Look, I know you guys really don't care about those things. Why don't you just ask me the questions you actually want to know the answers to. Full disclosure, I swear."

They bit. Rosalie asked "Who the hell are you?" at the same time Edward blurted "What the hell are you doing here?"

It was kinda funny 'cause they said "hell" at the exact same time.

I turned to Rosalie and said evenly, "I'm Beatrice Anne McNara, a thirty-three year old girl who, until recently, lived in Italy and was a sort of sick hobby for vampire royalty."

I shifted to Edward. "I'd rather not say, but I did promise full disclosure, didn't I?" I was regretting that rash decision. "It's enough to say that I got involved with someone I probably shouldn't have, and as a sort of punishment I got sent here."

"I knew it!" Alice cried from the other side of my focus. I turned to look at her, confused. She just sat and looked smug.

"How are you thirty-three?" Jasper asked. "You look like a kid."

"Specifically," I answered, "I look like I'm sixteen and a half. It's part of that nasty half-this, half-that thing. I'm not stuck in time like you guys are, but I don't age normally either."

"Do you know specifically how the "half-this, half-that thing" happened? I know I asked before, but it's worth reiterating…" Carlisle trailed off.

"I wish I did. I'm sorry."

"Were you never able to meet the vampire who did it?"

"Oh, we've met, he just wasn't allowed to talk about it."

I'd heard one of them could read minds from a distance. Could they sense all of the memories that came with that sentence?

"What are your half-vampire, half-human traits?" Bella asked.

"Oh, pretty much anything you can think of. It's pretty straightforward, really. I'm faster than a human, not as fast as a vampire. My eyesight, hearing, sense of touch, all of that is the same way. Better than a human's, not as good as a vampire's. Umm, what else? I do sleep, probably closer to the amount a human does than a vampire does. I eat normal human food, though I do tend to like my red meat rare, though my dad liked it that way, too, so we're not sure about that one," I shrugged. "My body temperature is colder than your average human's. I run a fever at ninety-one degrees. Usually I'm somewhere around 89, I think."

"90.3," Carlisle corrected.

"90.3, then. Oh, and I shimmer a little in the sun. Mostly people don't notice, or they don't think to ask about it. If they do I say it's my body lotion."

"You speak perfect English, and you don't have an accent," Alice pointed out.

"To your American ears. My mom thinks I sound atrocious. The Volturi have seen an influx of American vampires over the past few years. I picked it up from them. I speak Italian fluently, as well," I added as an afterthought.

"Your parents live with the Volturi?" Esme asked.

"My mom does. She's a vampire. They killed my dad." I said simply. I didn't feel like going into it. If they wanted more information, they could ask.

They didn't, though. They might have been on information overload, but I doubted it. Vampires are good at handling information. Probably they were just letting it process, like pausing after a good meal to digest. Not that they'd really know much about that.

After a few more minutes of silence, I decided it was safe to excuse myself and got out of my chair. "Well, it was nice meeting you all, but if you don't mind, I think I'll go back to bed. It was a long walk from Seattle and-"

"You walked?" Esme exclaimed. The trip wasn't a big deal for a vampire, but for an almost human it was quite a thing.

"Yeah, and my feet are pretty sore, so-"

"Why?" Rosalie demanded.

"Well, I can't drive and a bike wouldn't fit in the overhead bin, so, uh, yeah. After three nights on the ground, a real bed is sounding pretty tempting right now, so, um, night." I turned and walked back to the stairs, not waiting to see if they had any more questions.

I don't know how much longer they stayed down there discussing me, but the minute I got to my room I kicked off my shoes, stripped down to my underwear, and climbed gratefully into bed. After I pulled my blanket up around my shoulders and tucked Benedick comfortably under my chin, I only had time for a couple tears to leak down my cheeks before I fell into a dead sleep.


	10. Gathering

**A/N: I'm trying to limit my posting to one a day, which was really really hard yesterday, since I wrote four and a half chapters in two days :-) I'm thoroughly infected with the writing bug. I also wanted to thank all of my reviewers so much! You make me squeal while watching TV with my Michael coughmyedwardcough and my Neal coughmy jacobcough **

**This chapter is in Bea's POV, and is definetly my favorite as of now. It's also by far the longest, 10 pages on Microsoft Word, while most of my chapters average about 3-5. Enjoy, and please review!**

**Gathering**

I woke up, unsurprisingly, to rain. Not in an unpleasant way, though. I'd always liked the rain, and, having lived in a giant castle in Italy for the vast majority of my life, I hadn't gotten to experience it much. I disentangled myself from my blanket and got up, wrapping it around me like a robe, to go look out the window.

It was a misty rain, the kind we didn't get much of in Italy. On its way to the ground, it covered everything in shimmery droplets. The branches of the cedar trees outside my window looked like they were dressed up for a party. I inhaled deeply and contentedly, thinking about how wonderful the trees must smell after a good rain.

Shifting my gaze, I caught sight of my reflection in the window. Holy crap! Was that nappy mess my hair? Very quickly, I dashed off to the shower to make amends with my unruly curls.

The water was hot, my body was aching, and the shower felt like a godsend. I took extra time scrubbing all of the Washington State off of me and combing through my hair. I'd jumped in a small lake on my way over from Seattle, but I was loathe to pollute a fresh water source, so I didn't use soap or anything. Consequently, there was quite a large build-up of grime on my body.

After parting, albeit reluctantly, with the water and drying off with one of the fluffy blue towels I'd found in the closet, I pulled on my last set of clean underwear, along with my least grimy jeans and shirt. I slipped on my Skechers, ran a bit of gel through my hair to semi-tame the curls, grabbed my wallet, phone, and umbrella, and bounded out the door.

I was mildly preoccupied as I watched my feet going down the stairs. I had to find Esme and ask for directions to town, as well as inquire about laundry. I needed to find something to eat once I got there… The last meal I had was… Hm, dinner at McDonalds about 36 hours ago. I was starting to get hungry for a proper meal and-

Naturally, being so preoccupied, I hadn't noticed Alice standing at the bottom of the stairs, probably the entire time I was coming down them, and so ran smack into her. And that hurt. She's hard. Granted, so am I, but not as much as her.

The funny thing was, though, she let me run straight into her. Curious.

"Hello," She said brightly. "You're going shopping."

I stopped and looked at her askance. "Did Esme tell you…"

"No," she replied simply.

"Then how did you…?"

She simply shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I'll take you."

That surprised me, "Oh, thank you, but that's okay. I'm cool to do it on my own."

"Do you know how to get there?"

"Well, no, but I was going to ask for directions…"

"And how were you going to follow these directions?" Everything she said, she spoke brightly, with a smile, but even so, it was becoming clear that she held the power in this conversation.

"Well, I was going to walk…"

"All ten miles in the rain?"

"It's not like I didn't just walk the one hundred and two miles from SeaTac airport." I retorted.

"Not with shopping bags."

I was starting to grow angry. "I can handle it, I swear."

"You sure?"

I stared her down, my short fuse well burned, "Look, I'm not human. Don't treat me as if I am. I think I know what I can handle better than you."

With an almost imperceptible pursing of her lips, Alice stepped aside to let me pass. "Esme's in the kitchen."

"Thank you," I said curtly, and started to stride away. As soon as my back was turned to her, however, Alice said simply, "I was just trying to be friendly. You don't have to be as alone here as you were there."

Holy crap. Did she seriously just say that? Man, I'd have to be totally heartless to turn her down now. I knew her main purpose was probably reconnaissance, learn more about the freaky stranger kinda thing, not friendship, but I had to admire her skillful manipulation.

I turned, my hands up in a "you won" sorta position. "You got me. I can't really say no to that."

She smiled in triumph, so big and engaging it had to be genuine. "Excellent. Let me grab my purse, I'll be right back," and with that she dashed up the stairs, vampire style, and was back before I had time to tap my foot, impatient halfling style. "Follow me," she said cheerily, as she led the way to (I assumed) the garage, yelling "I'm taking the Volvo!" over her shoulder.

"Let Edward know," came Esme's reply from beside the windows.

"Edward can run," Alice muttered under her breath.

I followed Alice into the garage and past a dizzying parade of absolutely fantastic vehicles. Adam would just flip, I thought.

At the end of the garage was a simple silver Volvo sedan, which Alice jumped in. I slid into the passenger side and watched as she adjusted the seat up and forward before turning to me.

"So, where to?" She asked cheerily, practically bouncing in her seat.

"Umm, I have no idea?" I replied, suddenly aware that I knew nothing of shopping in the US. I knew where I would go in Volterra, but in Forks, I was lost. Alice giggled a little.

"What do you need?"

I thought a moment. "Sheets, pillows, breakfast, and the post office. The one on Division road. I have a P.O. box there."

"And the grocery store, don't forget that."

I cocked my head at her, confused.

"You need to eat, right?"

I nodded slowly.

"Then we need food in the house."

"Oh, no, you don't have to do that… I wouldn't want to gross you guys out or anything."

She gave me an amused smile. "It won't gross us out."

"Oh," I said. "It did some of the vampires in Volterra…"

Alice snorted as she reversed very quickly out of the garage. "Wimps."

As we sped down the road, Alice asked me, "So, how does SuperTarget sound to you? It's brand new, they just built it. It's right by Division Road, and I think you can get everything you need there."

"Um, I guess that sounds good. I've honestly never been to a Target in my life, though, so I don't really know."

Alice stared at me. "Really? Never?"

"Never," I replied. "They don't have them in Volterra, and this is my first time to the US." I twirled a dark curl around my finger.

"Oh. So, you've never been anywhere other than Italy?"

"No, I have. My mom and I took yearly trips back to Ireland, so she could check up on her family. Not openly, of course, but she had her ways of being there without them knowing. She said it was important for me to go so that I could connect with my homeland."

Alice nodded. "You do look Irish."

I snorted. "You should see me in direct sunlight. My hair's freaky red. Not like normal, strawberry red, but like almost purple red. I'm the total Irish stereotype, minus the freckles." Alice smiled, but didn't say anything. We were silent until we got to the SuperTarget.

I have to admit, it kinda scared me, but in an awesome way. All of that stuff in such a big building! There was nothing like it in Italy. It was all individual, boutique-y kinda stores. No one-stop-shopping like here. It definitely appealed to my sense of convenience.

"Okay, so," Alice said, "Sheets and pillows back there," she pointed towards the back of the cavernous building, "Groceries over there," Point to the left, "And breakfast up here," She pointed directly to our right.

"Breakfast first," I declared with a big grin. The line was short so I was soon munching on my breakfast sandwich delightedly. Egg+ sausage+ cheese+ bread equals heaven.

As we walked back to the bedding section, I had to focus hard to not get distracted by all of the goodies I saw. Clothes, cosmetics, shoes… Ah, glory, shoes. I even wanted to check out the kid's toy section. They had some nifty looking stuff in there, much better than I had. But then again, I was a kid in the seventies and eighties who spent more time recovering from "surgery" than playing. Kids these days were spoiled.

Reaching our destination, I found I had not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR WHOLE AISLES of choices for bedding. Alice smiled at my wide-eyed wonder.

"Any idea what you're after?" she asked, pulling me out of my reverie.

"Um, probably blue. Or brown. Or white."

"Oh, Esme put you in that room. Okay, let's see…" she started down one of the aisles and I scurried after her.

Shopping with Alice was cool. She struck me as the kind who would just tear through a clothing section, but when it came to bedding, she was very thorough and contemplative. She stopped to consider each one of the comforters. I had faith she'd help me find the right one.

We ended up with a grayish blueish comforter with modern looking ovals in darker blue and light brown on it, as well as two sets of white sheets and a dark brown quilt. It wasn't a perfect match to the room, but I liked it better than the plain brown set that was.

Moving on to the pillow aisle, Alice admitted freely, "I have no idea what to do here."

I smiled. "I do. Find one that's really thick and feels like a rock and that'll be perfect."

That was pretty fun. I'd hold up a pillow and Alice would punch it, gently for her, and give me feedback.

"Grocery time!" Alice announced with curious energy once I'd picked four pillows.

"Why are you so excited?" I asked. After all, she doesn't eat…

"I've never gone grocery shopping before!"

I stopped and stared at her, "Shit."

"Language!" She mock scolded me, and then paused. "Why?"

"Neither have I!"

"Seriously? Never?" She sounded incredulous.

"Never in all of my-" I sneaked a quick glance around, noticing the number of people around. "Sixteen and a half years of life."

"How is that even possible?"

I paused, "Would you think I was spoiled if I said I've had a personal chef all of my life?"

"Yes."

"I'm spoiled." Alice snorted.

"Come on, we'll figure this out," she said smiling, and tugged me gently towards the grocery aisles.

We had great fun sticking random, yummy-looking things in the cart until we realized that I had no idea how to cook any of it, at which point Alice called for back-up, which happened to be Bella. She advised that we get mostly microwavable things for now.

In the check out lane, I had great fun sliding my new, Volturi-provided Visa Mastercard through the machine.

We loaded all of my bags into the car and headed home, swinging by the post office so that I could change my address to the Cullen's and pick up the three FedEx's that had already arrived for me.

We came screeching into the garage and grabbed my bags. Naturally, I got stuck in the doorway in between the two bags of pillows I was carrying. Alice corrected me with a sharp kick to the rump, and I landed on the floor, both of us laughing.

Esme poked her head in. "You girls have a good time shopping?"

I nodded and grinned sheepishly from my place on the floor. "Yes, ma'am."

She smiled, "Good."

Alice helped me carry all of the bags and boxes meant for my room upstairs. "Here, you stay and unpack," she said kindly. "I'll take care of the groceries."

"You sure?" I asked. "They're mine, I should do it."

She smiled. "Don't worry about it. Laundry's down the hall on the left."

"All the way up here?"

"Yeah, weird place for it, I know." Alice walked to the door and left with a smile and a wave. I couldn't help but smile after her.

I made my bed with my new things and fell on my packages with a gusto. The first one was clothes, a godsend considering everything I had, including what I was wearing at the moment, was filthy dirty. The next was shoes, mostly Skechers (it might be safe to say that I have an obsession with them…) and a couple of my better heels. The last box, and I had to muffle a squeal at this one, was books. Glorious, wonderful books. I immediately jumped to put them on the bookcase next to the three I'd brought with me.

At the bottom of the box, I found a surprise: a poorly wrapped, rectangular package. I recognized the shoddy wrapping job immediately and tore into it, revealing a compilation of Shakespeare, including sonnets, dating from 1972, my birth year. I hugged the precious book to my chest.

I opened the cover and found, as I had suspected, a note addressed to me in handwriting as messy as the wrapping.

Bea,

I saw this and thought of you. I slipped it to your

Mom when she was packing your things and she

kindly put it in here for me. I miss you so much

and I'll love you always,

Adam

I cried. Not hard, but enough. Somberly, I took the hamper from my closet and my book and went down the hall to do my laundry.

I closed the door behind me so I could have some privacy. After shoving all of my clothes in the washing machine and making it go, I sunk down the wall by the door and opened my book. It naturally fell open to the first page of 'Much Ado about Nothing,' my favorite of Shakespeare's works. Adam had slipped a picture of us in there for a bookmark. It had been taken last Christmas, on my birthday, by my mom. Adam had his arms around my waist and I was reaching up and kissing him on the cheek in front of our personal Christmas tree.

This time I did cry hard, shoving the book away so that I wouldn't damage it with my salty tears.

**A/N: So, I decided to wait until tomorrow to get Breaking Dawn, because I knew that if I got it at midnight cough1hour10minutescough I'd be up all night reading it. Now, I'm usually up all night, but writing, not reading. I figured I should give you guys a few more chapters before I got completely and utterly distracted. You know how you should thank me? With reviews, of course!**


	11. Reticence

**A/N: Okay. I admit it freely. You guys have every right to be mad.**

**But, for the record, I did not lie!**

**I changed my mind.**

**However, I have only lost one night of writing, as I finished the book a couple hours ago! Of course, that means there probably won't be much writing tonight, but I promise I'll make up for it tomorrow!**

**I'll spare you guys my opinion, in case you haven't read it yet.**

**But I would like to point out that there are some subtle and not-so-subtle similarities between Breaking Dawn and my story. **

**Just food for thought ;-)**

**And thank you to my loyal reviewers! You make me squeal when my mom's getting ready for a George Michael's concert!**

**Anywho, I'm not a huge fan of this chapter. I like the second part better than the first. I wasn't going to include it at first, but I realized I needed to after writing the body of this chapter. I'm glad I did. Sometimes I feel like the end is the only redeeming quality of this installment.**

**Try to enjoy?**

**Bella's POV**

**Reticence**

Okay, Higher Power, what do you have against me? What could I have possibly done to deserve all this crap at one time?

I was curled up on Edward's bed as he paced agitatedly around the room. It wasn't the girl- Beatrice, I corrected myself- who was bothering me so much. We'd stayed at the table for nearly an hour discussing her after she went to bed, and vampires can say a lot in forty-five minutes. I think we'd come to the basic conclusion that she wasn't a danger to me, or at least Carlisle was assured of that, and I trusted him. Edward was a different matter.

It wasn't so much that he didn't trust Carlisle- he most certainly did. It was more that he was freakishly overprotective of me, and extraordinarily wary of anything to do with the Volturi. Not that I blamed him, of course, but somehow by the end of our conversation last night, I'd stopped thinking of her as one of them…

To me, "Volturi" was synonymous with fear, danger, threat, things like that, and Beatrice just didn't seem like any of those. Granted, I really didn't know for sure, but still. She wasn't even a real vampire… There was no way she could do me real harm in a house of seven of them.

I wished Edward had as much sense, but for whatever mystifying reason, when it came to me his logic deserted him.

Suddenly he stopped pacing and cocked his head, listening. "She's… doing laundry. And… crying." He sounded confused, as if he couldn't imagine someone so sinister doing such normal, vulnerable things. He ran his hand through his hair, causing it to stick up on end.

I sighed. "Edward, I wish-" He rounded on me, cutting me off.

"I know what you wish- I don't want to hear it again. I'm not going to "reconsider" my opinion of her and that's final!"

I came up onto my knees to face him. "I'm tired of your melodramatics! You're so stubborn! You've been so busy trying to hear her thoughts all day you haven't heard what you sound like!"

"Oh, and what's that?" He growled.

"A close-minded fool," I retorted.

"Better a fool than ready to jump into the arms of the enemy!" He accused.

"She's not the enemy, and I'm not trying to jump into her arms!" I sighed. "Maybe we should talk to Carlisle again."

"Yes," Edward hissed menacingly. "Maybe we should. He's in his study." He held the door open for me mockingly, and I walked through with as much dignity as I could muster, which wasn't much. My tear ducts were stinging.

I led the way down the hall and stairs to Carlisle's office. I knew Edward was following, but I didn't give him the satisfaction of looking back to make sure.

Carlisle saw how distressed I was the minute we walked in. He raised his eyebrows at me but I just shook my head, sinking into the leather chair, dropping my head into my hands and letting my shoulders sag. Carlisle's eyes turned accusingly to Edward.

"I've done nothing!" Edward answered the unspoken question. "But I can't say that I won't if you continue to harbor that girl in this house!"

"Edward," Carlisle said, his voice colder than usual, "We have no choice in the matter. Either we let her stay, or we risk the wrath of the Volturi- in which case they'd send someone who could do _real_ damage.

"In any case, as I said to you last night, I _don't_ think she'll be a problem. The only way she could do any harm would be if she got Bella alone, and I don't think any of us would let that happen until we were more sure of her. Unless Bella herself made the decision to be with Beatrice alone-"

"She probably would," Edward sneered. "She's ready to throw a welcome party, but you can't listen to her. The girl has no sense of self-preservation."

Suddenly I was "the girl."

"Edward," I said softly. "What are you trying to accomplish here?"

"To get that thing out of our house, what else?" He exasperated.

I rubbed my temples, still not looking at him. "Why?"

"So she can't hurt you, of course-"

This time I cut him off, jumping up to the seat of the chair. "Edward Cullen, who cares about her? The only one hurting me right now is you!" I yelled, tears streaming. He stared at me, shocked into speechlessness. "Trying to get her out of the house will do you no good if it sends me away, too!" I jumped down and grabbed a tissue from Carlisle's desk, facing towards the wall. Edward slumped into the vacated chair and stared into empty air.

"Bella… I'm so sorry… You're right… You're absolutely right" He tried to pull me into his lap and I nearly resisted, but he sounded so dejected that I let him. He wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face into my back. I got the strong sense that he would have been crying if he'd been able to. It was never hard to love Edward, but on very rare occasion it was hard to be near him.

Carlisle sighed and looked at me. "Unfortunately, Edward isn't the only one who feels that way. Esme came to me yesterday afternoon and Rosalie with Emmett late last night to voice similar sentiments. Counting Edward, that's half of our household. There's nothing that can be done immediately, but if something happens in the future to make me feel such a step would be necessary, I'll look into sending her elsewhere." He looked at Edward, "I hope that eases your fears some, and I hope your opinions change. I haven't heard the opinions of Alice or Jasper, but I'm sure they'll be along soon enough to tell me."

"You were right, here we are!" Alice announced with characteristic cheer as she sauntered in from Esme's study, Esme and Jasper in tow.

Carlisle looked at them expectantly. "Well?"

Esme smiled. "Alice went shopping with Beatrice this morning. She was just telling me how it went."

I felt Edward stiffen at my back, catching the thoughts of someone else in the room.

"She stays," Alice said with a grin.

"Is that your opinion or the future?" I asked.

"The future, for now. So long as nobody does anything stupid, she should be here for quite a while."

"How long is a while?" Edward asked, his voice betraying no emotion.

"I can't say for sure. I didn't really get a specific vision; she just has this general feeling of permanence about her."

"Jasper, what do you think?" Carlisle asked diplomatically.

Jasper closed his eyes, though whether to think or to feel, I couldn't say. "This… is a very good place for her to be, I think," he said slowly. Carlisle nodded.

"Thank you, Jasper. Esme?"

"I'm beginning to feel the same way, Carlisle."

Edward wrapped his arms around me tighter still, and I could feel him mumbling something to himself against my back.

Carlisle smiled. "Good. I guess that just leaves Rosalie and Emmett."

Alice grinned evilly. "Oh, they'll come around. I'll make sure of it."

Later, Edward and I lay on his bed as he held me to his chest. After we'd returned from Carlisle's study, the stress of the past few days caught up with me, and my sobs were just starting to abate now, twenty minutes later. Edward had held me, staying perfectly still, through all of them.

At last, as my breathing was just starting to return to normal, Edward hummed a few bars of my lullaby and kissed the top of my head, tucking it beneath his chin.

"I'm so sorry, love. More than I can tell you, except to say that you were perfectly right about everything. I was so preoccupied with my own worries that I didn't hear anything else, not even reason. I didn't even see what I was doing to you, and that's inexcusable. I hope you'll forgive me, love. I don't deserve it."

I sniffled against his chest. "It's okay. I do anyway. It wouldn't do to have bad blood between us when we're fixing to get married."

He chuckled at the expression. "No indeed, it would not. Speaking of which, we should probably talk to Carlisle and Esme about what happened in Florida."

"Yeah, we probably should…" I said, making no move to disentangle myself from Edward. I sensed his smile.

"You don't want to move, do you?"

"Not even a little bit."

I felt his smile grow. "We can stay a while longer."

Edward hugged me closer and hummed my lullaby. Exhausted from crying, I drifted into an easy sleep in Edward's arms.

**A/N: Was it as bad as I thought? I feel like it reads like fanfiction, which is _not_ a feel I try to accomplish, even though it is. Review! You know you're curious as to where I'll squeal next!**


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